GRID-Arendal: 30 Years of Making a Difference

Achim Steiner, Executive Director of UNEP, commended GRID- Arendal on the visual appeal and user-friendliness of its e-book version of Towards a Green Economy: Pathways to Sustainable Development and Poverty Eradication . The report was released at the meeting of UNEP’s Governing Council in Nairobi in February GRID-Arendal partnered with the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) to produce a Rapid Response Assessment entitled Living Planet: Connected Planet – Preventing the End of the World’s Wildlife Migrations through Ecological Networks. The report played a pivotal role in the adoption of UNEP/ CMS Resolution 10.3: The Role of Ecological Networks in the Conservation of Migratory Species. GRID-Arendal worked with ECORYS Netherlands to coordinate the new Arctic NGO forum to promote civil society dialogue, collaboration and action on Arctic issues. A new UArctic Thematic Network on Environmental Training and Education for Sustainable Development of the Arctic was launched with a focus on creating interdisciplinary courses on ecological education. Following the establishment of United Nations Regular Process for the Assessment of the Marine Environment including Socioeconomic Aspects (the “Regular Process”), GRID-Arendal signed a Memorandum of Understanding linked to the process, whereby GRID-Arendal will not only develop the reporting guidelines for contributions to the assessment report, but also provide support to the Abidjan Convention in five thematic areas: marine data and information management, marine assessments, outreach and communication, green economy, and offshore oil and gas environmental management.

2011